The present invention relates to an article which bears information representing a convertible value of the article or information for retrieval of the article, and an article retrieval system for collecting a deposited article, such as a disused article, in exchange for a monetary return based on the information on the article which represents a convertible value of the article.
Articles of merchandise that have been either disused or no longer necessary are mostly thrown away as trash. However, recent growing concern over environmental issues has focused on efforts to collect harmful substances that are contained in discarded articles and recycle reusable materials that are also contained in discarded articles. In view of the need for retrieval of some disused articles, attempts have been made for consumers to return disused articles that should be collected to their manufacturers by paying the carriage or to have retailers and dealers collect disused articles with payments. As the manufacturers' liability problems draw more and more attention, some manufacturers have begun to reduce the amount and number of toxic substances contained in manufactured articles and to collect disused articles for free.
The collection of disused articles in the past has been unsatisfactory because no sufficient data is available with regard to collected articles and consumers are not cooperative and the rate of collection of articles is low in the absence of definite merits on the part of consumers.
The article retrieval systems that have heretofore been established by manufacturers involve a large expenditure of time, labor, and money, and are not popular enough for a substantial number of consumers to deposit disused articles for retrieval without throwing them away.